I was lucky enough to attend an advanced screening of new HBO series Flight of the Conchords tonight at the Tribeca Grand. Despite all the obnoxious PA's loading up on free booze before the show, I found the event to be somewhat enjoyable.
The show follows the exploits of New Zealander's Bret McKenzie and and Jemaine Clement (who together form the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords) as they run amok in New York City. The first episode explored the classic "Bros before Hos" situation, when Jemaine went after Bret's ex, played by Rachel Blanchard of Clueless television series fame. The show had its moments and laughs. I didn't find the musical numbers to be as uproarious as most of the crowd did, but I really appreciated a lot of the subtle humor the kiwis brought to the show.
Highlight of night was talented comedienne Kristen Schaal's hilarious portrayal of a married groupie of the loser musicians. Low point was criminally underused comedian Euguene Mirman's minimal screen time (seriously, get that man an HBO show).
All in all, I liked the show, but did not love it as much as the other great HBO comedies (bring back CURB!). I'll definitely give it a couple more episodes though before I give up.
